ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Fresh off surgery to repair herniated disks in his back, Shane Victorino paid a visit to the Red Sox clubhouse Friday, voicing optimism that he can be the player he expects to be when spring training rolls around next February.

"I feel good,'' said a chipper Victorino. "Phyiscally I feel good. Some of the pain and symptoms I had going into the surgery, with the herniation and the shooting pain down my leg is gone. I've moving around alright. It was nice to get the procedure down and get back on my feet and go from here.

"I can't do anything (physical) for a month except for walking. The only (bad) part is not being able to do (more) things. We call it BLT - you can't bend, you can't lift, you can't twist. But this is a process for me and we're starting from square one.''

Victorino was limited to just 30 games in this, his second season in Boston, felled by a combination of lower back and hamstring issues that were interrelated.

"The back, the hammy -- everything in the lower half is all connected,'' he said. "Hopefully, this is the last of what we've dealt with the last two years.''

Being shut down for the remainder of this season wasn't an easy thing to accept, but Victorino knew it was necessary to get healthy and return in 2015 at 100 percent. And because the Red Sox are out of contention, it made being sidelined somewhat more acceptable.

"You never want to have surgery,'' said Victorino. "You never want to be in that position, but for me, this was something that was in the making and probably needed to get done. Understanding the circumstanceswe were in, it definitely made it a little bit easier. It wasn't something I wanted to do. It's not fun watching.

"But understanding where we were at, this was the time for me to get this done and be ready for 2015.''

Victorino has been told it'll be a month before he gets cleared for more physical activity.

"Then after a month, you basically start from square one on a core program,'' he said. "My goal is to be ready to go as soon as I can. They say it's a three-to-four, four-to-five month process. My goal is to make it three-four months. But I understand we've got a time frame to work with and with the position we're in, we can take more (time) rather than less.

"From what was told to me, I'll be ready to go full speed before spring training and hopefully (sooner).''

Days before Victorino underwent surgery in Los Angeles, the Red Sox added two experienced outfielders. The addition of Yoenis Cespedes, in particular, might cause the Red Sox to consider moving Victorino back to center, where he played and won a Gold Glove while in Philadelphia.

"I'll play wherever,'' said Victorino. ''I don't care if it's left, right, center. The trades of getting (Allen) Craig and Yoenis (Cespedes) puts a (different) situation. People are asking, 'Where are you going to play? I have every intention of being the right fielder next year. I don't have any mindset that I'm not going to be the right fielder and focus on that.

"But wherever I'm going to play, it doesn't matter. I want to be out there, I want to be healthy and be a part of this team.''

Sean McAdam serves as Comcast SportsNet's MLB Insider. Read more from Sean here, or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.